The Amended
by HarmonyRose
Summary: A very different take on the Uchiha Clan massacre; because sometimes the end justifies the means and power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I am merely torturing these characters for my own amusement. They don't belong to me only this plot does.

A/N: This **isn't **non-massacre, if you can't figure out exactly what happened no worries I'll let you know within the next chapter or two.

_**The Amended**_

__**Summary:** Itachi/Sakura. A very different take on the Uchiha Clan massacre; because sometimes the end justifies the means and power isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Chapter one:

Cool, assessing eyes stared out a glass-paned window at a plot of barren land. He would have to start germinating the plants for that soon, before the spring came. Itachi allowed his gaze to rise past his prospective garden toward Konoha, the village hidden in the leaf. He was glad the Hokage, Tsunade, allowed him to stay on the outskirts, even though she often had special unranked missions for him. He felt suffocated in the presence of other people. Their bodies pressed close to his as he walked, close enough that he or anyone, for that matter could do anything they liked to the people around him. Besides, in the city he didn't fit in. He was the lone Uchiha, not many people dared to talk to him. Last he had heard the villagers had thought there was some ancient curse on him. He couldn't blame them though, no villager knew why he was the only survivor and if he looked at it from their perspective it would seem he was just fated with bad luck.

It wasn't bad luck though; Itachi knew that nothing about his family's deaths had been fate. No, they had simply desired too much power and had too much pride. It was painful for Itachi to think about and he knew to keep his sanity he would have to lock his memories up just as he had been doing for the last thirteen years, ever since that day from hell.

Itachi sighed and answered the door just as an ANBU special operations was about to knock. "Mission?" Itachi asked rhetorically to the dark clad shinobi. The ninja nodded and disappeared as quickly as he came, leaving no traces of presence.

Itachi strapped his ink colored ninja gear and forehead protector on, foregoing the standard porcelain white mask. He raced over the roof-tops toward the Hokage tower.

As he ran he surveyed the surrounding population. There were many who were visiting with friends or shopping. On the side of the road nearest to him on the parallel street there was a group of children playing catch while their mothers shopped. One of the older boys, who looked to be about eleven, accidently threw the ball into the street. The younger brother of the boy chased after it without looking at the road. Itachi glanced up the street in time to see a wagon moving unusually fast right in front of the brightly clothed boy. For a second, Itachi didn't see the young boy with bright colored clothes, but a boy with black hair, onyx eyes, and a navy blue child kimono. For the briefest moment in time Itachi froze. He was fearful for the little boy. Then the illusion faded and his heartbeat paused before the adrenaline kicked in speeding it up. The boy caught the ball. Itachi flickered in front of the boy. He grabbed the boy and used the body flickering technique once more as he moved to the roadside. The children gathered around amazed and repeatedly thanked the man for saving the boy's life. Itachi attempted to lift the corners of his mouth up in a half smile, but he ended up looking slightly constipated from the effort.

The adults stayed away too caught up in their superstitions that they wouldn't even thank the man who had saved the young child's life. One of the older boy's recognized Itachi and began to whisper, "Isn't that Itachi Uchiha? He's cursed right?" The rumor spread around the group of children and a hush fell over the group. Itachi released the boy and the group ran farther down the street to continue playing.

Itachi returned to the roof-tops and sped once again to the Hokage's. He was glad he had saved the boy even if they avoided him. They were probably right to; he was a monster after all.

* * *

Sakura Haruno stood at the memorial lost in long ago memories. She smiled gently at one memory before she leaped into the trees. She turned back one last time to look at the monument before she jumped nimbly into the village. Where the trees met the village square Sakura jumped down and began to stroll leisurely through town gazing longingly at the food and wishing she had brought some cash to buy a treat. She didn't have time for that though, she had a mission meeting with the Hokage and she had wanted Sakura to be early.

Sighing Sakura finished the last bit of her trek as she made her way up to the Hokage's office. Sakura breathed in and lifted her chin up in a proud tilt as she raised her hand to knock. Tempering her knocking to a soft tap, so as not to aggravate the hang over Sakura was sure Tsunade-sama would have. Sakura smiled depreciatingly, of course it didn't help that Tsunade's cure for a hang over was to drink more.

An annoyed, "What do you want," sounded from the other side of the door. Sakura used to such behavior with her temperamental sensei took that as her cue to open the door and walk into the office.

"Just the ninja I wanted to see," Tsunade said as she gazed at her medical protégé

Sakura, to the roots of her pink hair, had a feeling that she was in for some unfortunate news.

"I have a mission for you. Actually I called you in here early, so as to get this over with before your partner comes in. There's no need to have you throw a fit with them in the room and embarrass yourself before you let me explain," Tsunade started with a slightly grumpy but, knowing tone. Blood rushed to Sakura's cheeks and turned the pale skin pink in an embarrassed blush. She was known to have quite the temper and Tsunade would know the best as she had her been her teacher for over five years now.

"The mission is a rescue mission. There are several ANBU ninjas that have been captured and quite possibly drugged by a group of renegade missing nins in Mist. On this mission I'm assigning you with an elite ninja. I'm going to tell him you are there for his and others medical care. But…" she held up her hand in a motion to preempt any arguments that she knew her apprentice would have.

"I really want you there to do that as well as help take care of their… establishment and as many of the ninjas as you can. I expect there to be enough rubble to warn other groups against such foolish aspirations." Tsunade smirked mischievously, "A lot of people don't think a medical ninja can be strong enough to carry their own weight and be a good medic, but I'm confident you'll show your teammate it's possible."

Sakura rolled her eyes and sarcastically thought that was wonderful since it meant that she was going to have one of those arrogant and condescending teammates; one that probably thought that since she was female and a medic she was all soft-hearted and worthless. She already had two strikes against her; she would enjoy _smashing_ those preconceptions to _pieces._

Sakura schooled her features when she felt the suppressed chakra signature of an elite ninja outside the doors of the Hokage's office. Itachi Uchiha did not walk into the room, no he _glided _into the room looking suave and calm; everything Sakura was not. Sakura was colorful, vibrant, and though she was excellent at diplomatic functions had pulsating emotions. She sighed internally it figured Tsunade-sama would assign her with someone so completely foreign to her and her way of the ninja.

Nonetheless Sakura nodded her head in respectful courtesy when Itachi's dark gaze flickered over to her. His gaze went back to the Hokage, not even acknowledging her. Sakura spring green eyes narrowed and she bristled at the brush off. She knew he didn't work with other ninjas, because he always went on his missions alone. However ignoring her like she was some genin was just downright unsocial and degrading.

"Uchiha-san, I have a mission for you. It's a hostage recovery mission. Details are in the scroll. This one will require that you have a partner, but I have already picked out a competent one for you so there is no need for a fuss," Tsunade warned the ninja that this was her final decision and that any attempts to persuade her would be simply foolish. "She will act as a medic and you are not to leave her outside while you find the hostages. You may require some of her more… specialized skills. She is your teammate. Any questions?" she asked not really expecting an answer.

Sakura noticed Itachi tense while Tsunade-sama explained her role to Itachi. Of course Sakura didn't put up any objections since she already knew that her role would be that of a teammate and not just a standby medic. It looked like the rumors that Itachi Uchiha really did ANBU missions alone and preferred it that way weren't exaggerated. Both Ninja started for the door as it was clear that Tsunade was done talking by the way she went back to looking around her desk probably scouting around for her spare bottle of sake. Sakura reached the door first and opened it wide, gesturing for Itachi to go first. He did so and Sakura's mouth ran dry. He glided out of the room and Sakura knew a moment of jealousy. Sure, all ninjas had some sort of innate grace from the finesse that came from years of training, but really that kind of grace that just seeped from him should be illegal. Now she knew why all the women, who weren't convinced he was somehow cursed, obsessed over him. He had dark aristocratic features and he moved entirely too sensuously for someone who didn't like to interact with other humans. However she quickly pulled her mind out its minor lapse and walked out the door before shutting it gently. He began walking away without a word. Sakura cleared her throat. He kept walking. Arrogant jerk. Great he was going to difficult about this, which was okay though she was used to dealing with this type of people.

"Uchiha-san!" she said empathically. Much too her satisfaction he turned to look at her and he seemed surprised that she was speaking to him. "What time do you want to leave?" Comprehension dawned in his eyes so this was the little medic that was to escort him. She didn't look like a medic she looked more like a shinobi. As long as she didn't get in his way than he didn't care what she was.

"I apologize for not mentioning this previously. In an hour be at the gates. I will not wait for you," Itachi said bluntly.

Sakura nodded and started toward her apartment, while Itachi moved toward his place on the outskirts of town.

After a quick packing, both ninja met at the gate at roughly the same time. Itachi saw his medic in her medic attire and judged the other clothes she was wearing earlier were just regular and not ninja clothes. Besides that red shirt she had been wearing was a little bright for any self-respecting ninja. Itachi didn't bother looking at her face. He normally wasn't very comfortable with it because, they held such an innate distrust of him. Therefore since he didn't bother to look any higher than her neck, he completely and utterly missed the forehead protector that kept Sakura's short hair out of her face. Itachi sighed this meant they would have to walk and that would slow the mission down. Bearing his resignation without a sign he walked out the gates and down the correct path with Sakura following close behind.

It was a very silent walk for the first hour. Sakura wondered why they hadn't taken to the trees yet, it was so much faster to run through the trees and hell it wasn't like they were even running now they were walking at a sedate pace and it was driving her crazy. Maybe he was a sensible shinobi and he had an injury and didn't want to further the damage? She quickly scanned over his frame but, found no visible proof. Well only one way to find out. "Uchiha-san, do you have an injury or something that's preventing us from tree jumping? I do not mean to question your judgment, but if it's something I can fix then…" she trailed off hoping he got the message without him taking it as disrespect.

Itachi was sure if he hadn't had years of practice of keeping his emotions under control he would be twitching. He turned to look at her and when his eyes settled on her face he finally noticed the forehead protector tied as a headband in her pink locks. The forehead protector's color indicated its owners rank: Special Jounin. So Tsunade hadn't just sent him with a random medic, she sent him with a special jounin medical ninja, a ninja who was just below Anbu level, but for whatever reason hadn't gone into the service. He couldn't believe he had been so inattentive as to miss the fact that she was a ninja.

"Kunoichi, what is your name," Itachi asked.

She stared at the male oddly, everybody knew who she was. Her pink hair was a dead giveaway. Perhaps since he rarely came into town he didn't recognize her? Nonetheless, she answered, "Sakura Haruno. You know the Hokage's apprentice?"

"Ah," now the he recognized her, but not because he'd ever actually seen her before. No, he'd just heard of her mentioned around the Hokage's office before. "How long can you sustain running through the trees at a rapid pace?"

Sakura took this as a challenge and her pride bristled at it. Green orbs narrowed, just who did he think he was? She was a jounin and could run long distances. How dare he question her abilities as a kunoichi. She had worked hard since she was a genin to attain this position. She was an elite shinobi and she would make sure no one ever thought otherwise, "For as long as it takes."

She leapt up into the nearest tree just before Itachi did. He set the pace at a mediocre pace and she knew he could run faster. He was infamous for his lightening speed. She growled out, "Uchiha, I know you can sustain faster speeds."

Besides the tones in her voice, Itachi was satisfied with the Kunoichi's request for a faster speed. He immediately quickened his pace and was delighted to see that it was still easy for her to keep up (though he'd never let her know)… so he sped up even faster to a speed few Anbu could keep up with. She continued to hold her own without any trouble and Itachi was truly impressed. The trip would take less time than he had previously thought. It appeared Tsunade-sama had quite the apprentice.

They traveled wordlessly over the wooded terrain through the night and midway through the next day stopping only briefly for a quick snack. Reaching a clearing approximately five miles from the target compound Itachi stopped and silently began to make camp. Sakura, who had paused only briefly to trace emerald eyes over what her team leader was doing, started to help without delay as soon as she realized he was setting up for a short stay.

He spoke, after the tent was pitched and a small fire was started, "I will take the first shift. Rest. We will move at twilight."

* * *

Thanks for reading! Does anyone/everyone get what's going on and why Itachi's in Konoha? Obviously, I know but, I don't know how apparent it is and I've never seen this concept before in an Itachi fanfic so I'm anxious to know if anyone got the drift and how well it's being received so far. I'm not sure if I made it obvious enough, since I didn't come out and say it. Anyway, thanks again for reading!

Please review

~HarmonyRose~


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't and have never owned Naruto, nor am I profiting from this.

Chapter two:

Itachi never woke Sakura up to take a watch-shift and she only woke twenty minutes before they were to leave. Sakura looked toward Itachi and he acknowledged her with a slight nod of the head. She could tell that he hadn't slept at all while they had stopped. Sakura appraised his state of health with professional medical eyes. He was tired. It was apparent to her, though he hid it well; His shoulders were tighter, he had light purplish bags under his eyes, and he was paler than he had been even just a few hours ago. Itachi didn't look bothered by the fact that he was obviously exhausted; in fact she was willing to bet that this was a normal occurrence for him. She narrowed her sea-foam green eyes on him, he was well enough to complete this mission, but afterwards she would make sure this situation was... rectified. It was ridiculous and she wondered why his doctor would allow his health to deteriorate like that. There could be serious consequences for shinobi if they weren't in weren't in peak medical condition during missions.

Sakura's stomach rumbled. She stopped musing on Itachi's health and took some nuts out of her pack. She said as she tossed one small pre-packaged bag of nuts toward Itachi which he predictably caught before she concentrated on eating her own snack. He stared at her for a moment out of the corner of his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time someone gave him a snack or anything for that matter. This girl was different he decided before beginning to eat the snack that was given to him. After the short snack the two moved to take to the trees for a few more miles before stopping just a hundred yards from the compound. The compound was a sprawling building with only two floors above ground. The prisoners were being kept in the basement and the two rescue ninja would need to go into the immense grey stone fortress to get to them.

Keeping his voice low, Itachi outlined his plan and quickly showed the map given to them in the mission scroll to Sakura. They would sneak around to the back to the window closest to the stairwell that led to the dungeons, silently disposing of any guards along the way. After reaching the cells then she would do a quick healing for the prisoners and then get out as fast as possible without alerting any of the other ninja.

With silent footfalls and subtle genjutsu the two ninja from Konoha made their way around the building. Cautious crimson eyes kept a constant vigilance for traps while slender female hands disabled the traps effortlessly. As they catapulted themselves through the open window the ninja took out kunai in case they encountered enemies. Glancing about without seeing another ninja Itachi started toward the stairs melting into the shadows so only his crimson eyes were discernable. Sakura followed his lead without pause. When Itachi and Sakura reached the bottom they stopped simultaneously; there was just two guards on this floor. With a barely distinguishable nod in the dark Itachi gave Sakura the okay to move. As she moved into the light to distract the ninja guards Itachi loosed two kunai that embedded themselves into the chest cavities' of the enemy. Breaking into a noiseless run, Sakura raced to the cell and unlocked the metal barred door with the key taken from the jailor's hip. In the cell the men were bloody but it seemed the worst of their injuries were thankfully only broken bones and minor internal bleeding. Directing soft-glowing healing chakra to her hands Sakura mended the nine different broken bones on the four ninja as fast as physically possible for her.

The team was a foursome that Sakura didn't know well beforehand though it wasn't hard to figure out who they were. One was easily distinguishable as Hyuga with his creamy lavender eyes and traditional cream clothing. Long matted hair, the color or molasses hung freely down his back. Sakura observed that he looked much like Neji Hyuga and was possibly a close cousin or second cousin. Though interestingly enough he wore his cursed seal without hiding it.

Another was Genma though his senbon had been confiscated. He was lithe with chin length brown hair and sedate chocolate eyes. Sakura rolled her eyes, and like always he was wearing his forehead protector backward. The last two ninja were two new chunin who specialized in ninjutsu and genjutsu. Sakura knew less about them than anyone else and couldn't remember their names.

Never missing a chance to flirt Genma smirked a saucy grin and said, "Just couldn't keep away could you?"

"You wish," Sakura rolled her eyes when she answered.

"Would you grant a man his dying wish then?"

"You're not going to die," Sakura said.

If possible Genma grinned harder, "I knew you cared. I'll just reserve a night for you next week. Does Tuesday or Wednesday work better for you?"

"Genma," Sakura purred. "If you do any such thing or insinuate that to me or another one more time I might have to diagnose you with testicular cancer next time you come into the hospital. You do know what the treatment for that is, right?"

At Genma's pasty features and horrified look she gave a particularly evil grin. "Of course you do."

Itachi frowned; it figured that Genma would flirt even when he was badly injured.

With that Sakura led the progression up the flight of steps with the chunin closely following too afraid to be close to the mysterious Uchiha.

This didn't go unnoticed by Sakura, she made note of the fact that everyone seemed to shy away the tall Uchiha. Sakura glared down at the ninja. Just because, there was a few superstitions surrounding him didn't mean that everyone should avoid him. The two chunin backed away from the scary look on Sakura's face. Inwardly, Sakura grinned now they were equidistant from her and Itachi.

It didn't surprise her anymore that he didn't like to go on missions with others, because although his solo missions made him more shrouded in mystery, at least he wasn't stared at or avoided as if he had the plague. She knew the story and the myths that went with Uchiha Itachi's history quite well actually, since the massacre had happened when she was just a little girl she had heard the very first whisperings of those myths.

Sakura kept her vigilance up, weary eyes searching for any sign of the enemy. Seeing no one in sight, Sakura motioned the escapees and Itachi toward the window they had come through, while she skillfully darted to one of the far rooms of the hallway. Before she could get far though Uchiha Itachi flickered in front of her and stared her down, his crimson gaze narrowed suspiciously.

"For Tsunade-sama," she mouthed to him.

Itachi watched through wary eyes as Sakura darted toward the doorway of one of the rooms and proceeded to paste an exploding tag onto the wooden frame, before following the other ninjas out the window. Itachi stayed behind a moment; uncertain what his partner intended to do with an exploding tag that would hardly do any damage to the structure since it was placed in a seemingly arbitrary location. Using his strong arms Itachi vaulted out the window to land in a guarded crouch position. As he saw no enemies he crept into the forest where his partner and their rescued ninja were.

Sakura tensed as she felt a tightly reined chakra enter near where she and the other ninja were, granted it could easily be Uchiha-san but, either way she didn't want to assume and allow an enemy ninja easy access to her wounded teammates. She drew her weapon in preparation, her slim muscles tightened as she spun quickly to face the on-coming chakra signature. She wouldn't attack until she saw who it was. She breathed a sigh when she saw the familiar aristocratic features and dark tied-back hair of the Uchiha.

"Uchiha-san please stay here for a minute while I complete my half of the mission for Tsunade-sama" Sakura whispered. Itachi nodded though he was strangely curious as his Hokage had not deemed him worthy enough to tell him about his subordinate's side task. Keeping the retrieved hostages in sight Itachi wandered to the edge of the forest to watch his teammate.

He watched as she darted through the shadows, if he hadn't known she was there she would be completely undetectable to him. She slipped through the shadows like few shinobi were able to. It was a deadly skill to possess. His medic slipped into the darkest shadowed crevice and became completely invisible. Itachi blinked and crimson eyes peered into the darkness.

His eyes picked up the flow of Sakura's chakra of which a small amount was being gathered. His eyes narrowed: just what was she planning on doing? His enhanced vision only allowed him to see the basic chakra patterns, Byakugan would have been much more useful in this situation (but he would never tell those conceited bastards that there was even one situation in which their bloodline limit was more useful).

An explosion went off in the building and Itachi's only logical conclusion was that Sakura had set off her exploding tag. No external damage was done though and he was beginning to wonder if his partner had miscalculated. Even the smartest of ninjas made mistakes, although that was a particularly daft one to make.

He watched as nearly all the guards from the outside rushed into the compound as Sakura shrunk further into darkness to avoid detection.

"Where's Sakura-san?" one of the chunin asked nervously. He was obviously one of the newer ninja who was unused to missions and bloodshed.

"She has a side mission from Hokage-sama," Itachi answered lowly.

"Tsunade, probably wanted her to perform some demolition," Genma grinned as he spoke.

Itachi internally grimaced, she was failing her mission pretty horribly so far, if she wanted to take down the building she should have been planting exploding tags the whole way to the dungeons. He supposed he could help her, but he didn't want to leave the others since they weren't up to par at the moment. He was prioritizing his mission above hers. It really would only take a few minutes if he helped though… It didn't actually matter who completed the mission so long as it was done.

The lone Hyuga of the group activated his Byakugan and said, "I've wanted to observe her technique for a long time."

Itachi smoothed his features over. What were they talking about? What could she possibly do now that the enemies knew she was there?

He glued his eyes to her and watched as she drew a bit of chakra to her forefinger.

Sakura grinned. Everything was going perfectly. Most, if not all of the guards had gone inside the compound to see what the explosion was and none of them had seen her. Now that they were distracted she could finish her plan and hopefully escape unnoticed.

Sakura drew the slightest amount of chakra to her first finger and with a flick to the wall she strategically released it. She jumped back as far as she could. As her feet touched the ground some fifteen meters away a crack appeared where her finger had made contact. As soon as it had appeared the gap widened and a spider web of cracks traveled at a pace nearly too quick for even Itachi's Sharingan eyes to track. Within moments the building fell with the sounds of its stone walls shattering and crashing able to be heard far into the forest the other ninja were hiding in.

Genma whistled, "That was sure something."

Itachi's bloodline limit deactivated in shock and his eyebrows rose to his hairline. That had been an impressive display of chakra control. She had used an impossibly small amount of chakra to take down an entire building. It was apparent that Tsunade had trained her apprentice well.

"There's no way even Hyuga Neji could pull off that amount of chakra control, clan prodigy though he is," the Hyuga breathed out in awe. "That kind of chakra control is unheard of. She used less chakra to destroy that building than it takes me to shut down a single tenketsu. Granted I'm not the most efficient Hyuga, but that was…" words failed the ninja.

Sakura appeared amidst the trees, the dark of the night obscuring her vibrant features. She quietly made her way next to her teammates. "Are there any injuries I need to attend to?" she spoke urgently.

All the rescued shook their heads no.

"Uchiha-san?"

"We should head toward Konoha," he advised.

Within seconds the ninja from Konoha sprinted off toward their homeland. Two hours into their run Sakura watched as even the most fit of the rescued prisoners struggled against not allowing their exhaustion to show. Their faces were pinched and their countenances wan from fatigue. It was apparent to her even in the dead of night. They were determined to keep their stride though and because of that Sakura noted that the Uchiha hadn't noticed. She didn't blame him though, he wasn't used to taking care of a team and they weren't making it easy to tell that they needed a rest. It was only because she was a medical ninja that she could tell.

Sakura's viridian eyes flickered back one last time before she turned her head toward Itachi, "Uchiha-san, the others are tired. We should make camp."

His dark gaze roved over the group, finally noting the subtle signs. He met eyes with his mission partner and nodded just before he began to descend into the forest.

All the ninja touched down, their breaths coming out in short rasps. They had been pushed far enough for the day. Sakura's initial scan had assured her that it was just overtaxing their bodies rather than any injuries that had caused the other ninjas to lag and need a break so early on in their travels.

Camp set up was swift. This was second nature to the shinobi now and they knew the best ways from years of practice. Sakura handed out mission rations and Genma grimaced. "Can't these taste any better?" he pleaded as he nibbled at the so called meal.

Sakura frowned and said, "I'm not sure there is anything you can do to make it taste better."

Genma's eyes gleamed brighter. "Wouldn't you do anything to make it taste better?"

"I suppose," Sakura said cautiously.

"If you fed it to me I'm positive it would taste a million times better. And if you removed your outer layer… maybe a billion times better. I'd eat this all the time if that happened."

"Genma, what did I say about joking like that?" Sakura said in a low tone that was almost a growl.

"But Sakura-chan, you make it hard not to," Genma pouted.

"You can still do missions after your cancer treatment," she stressed the last word ominously.

His eyes dropped back to his food and the conversation halted in their makeshift campsite.

As her charges laid down for a rest, Sakura walked over toward her captain. His back was to her as she spoke, "Did you set up a perimeter yet?"

"Yes," he said.

Sakura was unsure how she was going to accomplish her goal but, she was going to make sure that Uchiha-san rested no matter what. She could always pull the medic rank card, but she preferred if it didn't come to that.

"I'll take watch tonight," she said.

"No, you will rest with the others."

"You haven't rested yet though," she said gently. She hoped he would take her offer otherwise she would have to demand it. It wasn't good to go so many hours without rest and it wasn't just compassion that commanded her to make him rest. Without sleep he could compromise the mission.

His inky eyes met hers as he turned toward her. "I do not require rest at this time," he said.

Sakura's sea-foam eyes narrowed. "That's crap and you know it."

Itachi walked calmly over to his sleeping roll, slipped inside, and closed his eyes. He resisted the urge to ask her if she was happy now. He was an adult and snapping at little girls who didn't know their place was not proper behavior.

"I'll be prescribing you sleeping pills when we get back to Konoha. I can see this is a chronic condition." Sakura jumped into the nearest tree branch to watch over the area from a higher vantage point.

Hours passed quickly for Sakura as the others slept. Nearly an hour before sunrise she heard Itachi shifting heavily in his sleep. As if on cue as soon as she turned to look at him he started to sleep talk. It was quiet and if she wasn't a ninja listening for even the quietest sounds she wouldn't have been able to discern what he was saying.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry. Please understand I had to." He paused for a moment as he rolled onto his side. "They were corrupt. They were going to hurt so many people." He sounded increasingly distressed and Sakura debated on waking him.

"Little brother, please forgive me," he breathed out unevenly. He was crying softly in his sleep, the tears slowly trekking off his face.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. She wasn't supposed to hear. This was private whatever it was. She couldn't wake him though, because then he would know she had heard and she didn't need him feeling vulnerable and guarded around her. They still had another two maybe three days of traveling at the speed of the chunins.

Sakura waited a few minutes till he was only mumbling and gently she crouched down a few feet away. Waking ninjas was dangerous and she wanted to be out of striking range. "Uchiha-san," she said softly so she didn't wake the others.

He startled awake and glanced warily at her.

"It's just before dawn, but I wanted a short rest before we headed out," she said.

He nodded and cleared his throat, "How much rest do you require?"

"An hour should be sufficient I slept all of yesterday afternoon after all."

Sakura unrolled her sleeping roll and slid into the well used blanket. Sleep lined her eyes and overtook her within seconds. Just a quick nap would do.


End file.
